Paes makes light of disparity in rankings

India's Davis Cup captain Leander Paes is confident the hosts will put up a brave fight in the upcoming Asia-Oceania Group-I tie starting here on April 11.

Written by Press Trust of India

Read Time: 2 mins

New Delhi:

Country's highest ranked singles player Rohan Bopanna trails his Japanese counterpart Kei Nishikori by more than 200 rungs but India's Davis Cup captain Leander Paes is confident the hosts will put up a brave fight in the upcoming Asia-Oceania Group-I tie starting here on April 11.

Having beaten umpteen higher ranked players in his illustrious Davis Cup career himself, Paes did not read too much into the superior rankings of the Japanese and hinted it would count for little when the tie starts.

"It's different playing in the Davis Cup ties. It takes to be a super athlete to perform in the Davis Cup," Paes told reporters after the practice session at the National Sports Club of India here.

Paes joined the camp today and partnered left-handed Divij Sharan in a long practice session with Rohan Bopanna and national champion Ashutosh Singh across the court.

The skipper expressed satisfaction at his own fitness level and was not worried about Bopanna's knee injury either.

"The last four weeks have been good on the (ATP) Tour. I am feeling great. No problem with my ankle, no strappings and there is no second thoughts on playing on grass as well as far as my movement is concerned," Paes said.

On Bopanna, he said, "He looks good and is working hard. We have the full support staff taking care of everything," he said.

Happy with today's practice session, Paes said, "It's going well. I am happy all the boys are practising hard. We had a couple of sets of doubles practice as well as singles."